STOP WATCH LISTEN
Surprising things always seem to happen in front of the Red Bull Stage at Oppikoppi. The combination of perilous rocks, heart-bursting amounts of caffeine and a menagerie of upcoming acts often leads to some pretty amazing sights. At this year’s Oppikoppi one of those moments came during pop kwaito duo Darkie Fiction’s set.
If you are unfamiliar with the pair, then it’s best you open your preferred streaming service and use up some data because, judging by the crowd reaction that night, there’s a good chance they’ll come up a lot in your future music conversations.
“That moment was very very unexpected. We always think that
Bhoza, which is the single that we shot a video to, is the one that would get the most response, but Malibongwe surprised us today,” says Katt Daddy, the duo’s rapping half.
The moment Katt Daddy is referencing came just after they had performed the anthemic Malibongwe, a track from their latest EP Sobanini:A
Mzantsi Evolution. Thinking they would breeze on to the next track Darkie Fiction found themselves halted by a wall of sound as the crowd resolutely belted the song’s refrain into the night sky. This was no polite appreciation for a good song but rather a roaring seal of approval that lasted so long it started to feel awkward. Like a standing ovation that significantly overstays its welcome. This was a cheer meant for more recognisable artists. For Darkie Fiction it was vindication of their commitment to making unmistakably South African music.
“We came to be out of frustration with what was happening on the radio and more specifically with what was considered commercial music. We would look at what is playing on radio and wonder why it all sounds American,” says Yoza Mnyanda, the twosome’s singing half.
That was in 2016 and at the time both artists were trying to pursue solo careers. By the time enough frustrations had been shared Mnyanda and Katt Daddy had decided to take a shot at cracking the music industry as a team rather than individuals with a specific emphasis on reviving a sound they felt had been neglected.
“We get inspired by that popular kwaito era and there came a time when that sound kind of died out. So we took it upon ourselves to pick up the baton from the likes of Boom Shaka, TKZee, Mandoza and people like that … because as far as we were concerned, after that time people started chasing a more westernised, American sound,” says Katt.
That kind of endeavour can often lead to artists being labelled as “alternative” and not finding a home on South African radio. Acts like BCUC have circumvented this by cultivating European fan bases, which is often easier for artists who don’t rap over trap music beats, but that is not the tack Darkie Fiction wants to take.
“In the alternative scene I don’t think anyone necessarily wants to make it bigger somewhere else before they do it where they are from but circumstances sometimes lead them that way. We don’t want to have to go overseas to be considered successful. We want to break that cycle. We want to say alternative musicians aren’t alternative, they are mainstream and can be more commercial than any of these other American-sounding acts,” says Mnyanda.
Breaking that cycle is easier said than done. South Africans have an odd tendency to start valorising our alternative acts only once they get a few European stamps in their passports. Given how they had people risking asphyxiation to sing louder, however, it may just be that Darkie Fiction may become one of the few who end up loved at home before they’re praised abroad.